Arbitrator rules against Fort Myers Police Department over promotions issue

Reporter: Peter Fleischer Writer: Derrick Shaw
Published:
FILE Photo of FMPD Chief Derrick Diggs in July 2020. Credit: WINK News.

An arbitrator has found Fort Myers Police Chief Derrick Diggs did not follow proper protocol when making multiple promotions within his department.

Now, the police department will have to make officers “whole” during the next round of promotions.

The 15-page ruling, issued on Wednesday, found Diggs skipped over candidates that should have gotten promotions.

Now, Diggs is required to promote those candidates next time jobs open up and give them back pay.

The issue stems from two vacancies, a sergeant job that opened up in June of 2020 and a lieutenant job that opened in October of the same year.

Diggs eventually filled those positions from a list of candidates eligible for promotions from 2021 to 2023.

The arbitrator ruled that was incorrect.

Instead, Diggs should have filled them with candidates from an earlier eligibility list.

As a result of the ruling, Diggs will be required to fill the next sergeant and lieutenant openings with officers from the 2018 to 2020 list and they “will be made whole for ant loss of earnings, benefits and seniority dating back to 2020.”

WINK News reached out to the Fort Myers Police Department about the ruling but hasn’t heard back.

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